


Brown Eyes

by Insomniac_with_dreams



Series: Beskar and Kyber [3]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din is fucking done, Foul-Mouthed R2-D2 (Star Wars), Good Parent Din Djarin, Helmetless Din Djarin, I don't know what else to taggg, I think at this point, Luke Skywalker is a Sweetheart, Luke is smitten, M/M, Protective Cara Dune, Protective Din Djarin, Spooky Force Stuff I have a hard time articulating, The Force, They all need hugs, honestly i don't blame him, its about the brown eyes, well kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:28:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28334652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insomniac_with_dreams/pseuds/Insomniac_with_dreams
Summary: Din grabs the helmet and Luke steps forwards, desperation flashing through him, “Wait.” and Din waits. No more of his face is shown to Luke like the first time, and his eyes darken. “You have brown eyes.” a truly stupid thing to say, something that would earn him a slap to the back of his head from his sister.Din’s eyebrows furrow, “It’s a common color in the galaxy.”
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: Beskar and Kyber [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065137
Comments: 38
Kudos: 1260





	Brown Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> The beautiful little poem you are about to read before this installment was written by SleepingReader in my comments and I needed everyone to read how lovely they are. 
> 
> Thank you for your words.

Helmet on, it's easier to speak  
I'm wishing by your side I could keep  
How I wish I could sweep your worried frown  
I never saw, your eyes are... Brown.  
I know it's a common color and i shouldn't ponder  
But Din.. They're filled with hope and light and wonder.

~SleepingReader

~*~*~*~*~*~

There are no droids down Luke's hallway, but there are storm troopers. Suspended in bacta like tubes, eyes closed, and hair floating about their faces. Cold seeps into Luke and he raises his weapon higher. He no longer needs it for light, the room is washed in milky blue, pale and sickening. 

“Are you alive?” he whispers and reaches out with the force towards the troopers. It brushes against life. A halted frozen type of life, one devoid of _life._ Luke doesn’t understand, and he pushes harder, desperate to understand. Still nothing, alive, but not alive. No heartbeat hums from the bodies, no breath falls from their lips, but the bodies are alive.

Luke reaches out with his hand now, pressing it against the closest tank. Cold even on his prosthetic. He’s mesmerized, stuck in a trance of morbid curiosity as he looks closer at the pale face of the man hanging behind the glass. Mousy hair, and a smattering of freckles across his nose. He can’t be much older than Luke was when he left Tatooine. All of them, men and women, are young. 

“Half the crew usually used, unused common areas,” Luke's eyes widened and he stepped back. Whatever is happening on this ship Moff Gideon was determined to keep silent. Luke turns around and sprints back the way he came praying Din found a droid. He skids into the intersections and barely manages to redirect the blaster bolt Din shoots at him with the force.

“It’s me! Din it’s me!” he pulls his light saber out, letting the green light illuminate the dark again. Din looks wild even with his helmet on, blaster raised, chest heaving. R2 whirs and Luke glances down at him, there’s a silver droid by his legs. "You found a droid.” Luke Huff's.

“You didn’t,” Din grunts. Luke shakes his head.

“No. but I did find something concerning.” 

Din’s blaster sags, "What now? Did Gideon escape?”

Luke reaches for the droid with the force, lifting it off the ground and starting towards the way they came.

“What did you find?" Din asks following him as they move up the hallways. Luke bites at his lip, flicking his wrist to prevent the droid from bashing it’s head against the wall.

“I don’t know. People, storm troopers, in bacta tanks. In some sort of hibernation I think.”

Din sucks in a breath before releasing it in a harsh sigh, “Gideon wanted Grogu’s blood for something, something that a cloning doctor was part of.”

Luke looks sharply at him, “Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”

Din looks over at him, “Why would I mention it earlier? I’m not even supposed to be here anymore. I wasn’t thinking about it, I came here for Grogu, nothing more nothing less.”

Luke grimaces. They’ve come to another intersection, this part of the ship darker then the rest, “Well, me too but it looks like we’re both involved.”

Din mutters another profanity, “I’m tired of getting involved.”

Luke swings his light saber down the hall, before stepping into it. He can’t help the light scoff that falls from his lips, “I remember wanting to be involved with everything, and now I am and I miss those simple days.”

“Yeah well, trouble seems to follow me like a shadow ever since this one,” he puts a gentle hand on Grogu’s head, Luke hadn’t noticed that his cloak was acting as a sling for the baby.

“I’ve found that when you blow up the Empire's Death Star you start attracting a whole lot of attention,” Luke peers down a hallway. Finally the walls and mess of dark troopers are looking familiar. He looks back confused when he doesn’t hear Din’s boots behind him. He’s standing in the middle of the hallway, helmet tilted as he looks at Luke. "What?”

"You blew up the Death Star?” there’s disbelief in Din’s words and Luke grins at him.

“Yeah. Didn’t have much to do with the second one's demise, but finally all that practice shooting Womp Rats paid off.” he chuckles, and Din stays silent.

"Who the hell are you?” Din asks him again, finally catching up to him.

“I told you, I’m Luke Skywalker. A lot of people know who I am by name alone.” he sighs, “even if it gets bothersome.”

“I’m not a lot of people,” Din mutters and Luke smiles, disarming his light saber as they approach the bridge.

“I know.”

The bridge is full of people again, including the glaring Mandalorians who Din readily ignores, turning instead to where Fennec and Cara look over the monitors.

"We found a droid,” Din says, letting Grogu down and resting him in the chair again. “Did you get communications back on line?”

Fennec shakes her head, “No. I think it was one of the first things they shut off as a precaution. I’m going to need to go through the deeper system to get them back on line.”

Cara approaches Luke and R2, “Let's hope his bucket has something useful in it’s head.”She takes the droid from Luke carrying it over to the monitor with a stunning show of strength. “Come on astro, get your metal ass busy.” she calls over her shoulder to R2. He beeps in indignation but follows her when Luke puts a hand on his head.

Luke wanders over to Din, who still has his back to the other Mandalorians even though Fennec is quiet now.

“You should tell them what you found,” Din mutters and Luke complies. He tells Fennec and Cara who is the listening entitly even from the floor where she’s messing with the droid.

“So what you’re saying is you think Moff Gideon is seeking a way to make himself have Grogu’s powers and is experimenting on others first?” Din asks after Luke relays his theories.

“Maybe not himself, but perhaps an army of fake force sensitive warriors. Force sensitive children are rare these days. Many hunted and killed or hidden away until their powers are weak. An army of force wielders would bring unlimited power to who ever possessed it.”

“Simple solution,” Din says, leaning his fits on the monitor’s. ‘We unplug them.”

Luke looks at him distastefully, “That would kill them Din.”

“Din?” Cara has joined their little group now, having done all she could with the droid and leaving the rest to R2, “Since when do you go by Din?”

“Is that not his name?” Luke asks. Din waves a hand to dismiss the topic.

“It doesn’t matter, and I know it would kill them. That’s the point.” 

Luke clenches his jaw, “I won’t kill innocent people.”

Din turns to face him directly, “What makes you so sure they’re innocent?”

“I could feel it. They aren’t here because they want to be. They didn’t ask to be test subjects.” 

"And what happens if they suddenly decide to wake up? If they have the same power you do we aren’t going to be able to stop them. They would kill all of us!” Din snaps, his voice loud and angry.

Luke stands his ground, “You’re scared, and because of that you are not thinking. You don’t kill innocents Din.”

Din clenches both his fists breathing deep before turning away. Cara looks between them, “look I don’t know who you are but-”

“I’m Luke Skywalker,” Luke says off-handed as he watches the Mandalorian stalk over to the two droids. “I don’t think I ever told you my name,” he murmurs.

“You’re Luke Skywalker?” Cara breaths and he turns back to look at her. As in war hero, killed the emperor Luke Skywalker?”

He frowns, “I didn’t kill the emperor, but yes I suppose that is me.”

“Why did you not say anything earlier?!” Cara exclaims and Luke feels a sense of deep shame wash over him

“I guess I have become cocky. I’m used to people recognizing me. Din over there doesn’t know who I am at all, it’s...nice.” he gives Cara an apologetic look. Fennec snorts.

“He doesn’t know anything. The first thing he asked Boba Fett was if he was a Jedi.”

Luke lets out a startled laugh, “Well. I suppose when you are the last one in the galaxy it becomes a necessity to ask such things when searching for one.” 

He thinks he has finally earned Cara’s trust when R2 lets out an excited string of beeps. The exposed inner workings of the imperial droid are whirring away , numbers and symbols flashing up on the screen it’s connected to. A sequence of numbers falls into place on the access code screen and Din starts flipping switches. The ship comes to a jerky halt, sending them all stumbling. Cara recovers first, standing straight and grinning at them all.

“One crisis averted.” She says, Din grunts. He’s looking intently at the monitor.

“I don’t know where we are though. I don’t recognize this system at all.”

“I’m going to try and get the communications back on. I think our best shot is to have someone come to us.” Fennec says, " I just need to find the communications hub and hack into it.”

“I think so too,” Din says. “I’ll come help with that if you need.” Fennec shakes her head, hoisting her gun back up and nodding towards Cara.

“You coming?”

Luke approaches R2, starting to untangle him from the wires that connect him to the other droid. He beeps on an off, which Luke is grateful for. The bridge is thick with silence now that Cara is gone. Luke tries his hardest to ignore the tension radiating from Din and the hostility radiating off of the other two Mandalorians. It’s going to break, and a few minutes into the silence it does. 

The Red headed Mandalorian stands from her position on the steps and stalks towards Din.

“I challenge you for the Dark Saber,” she hisses. Din stiffens and turns to her.

“No. I will not fight you for it. I already told you, I don’t want to sword and I don’t want the planet. It’s yours.” Luke is standing now, watching them with a hand on his own weapon in case things get gnarly. 

“I cannot reclaim what you _stole_ from me unless I beat you in a fight. It is the only way the power is transferred!” She sounds hysterical. Din straightens to his full height. He cuts an intimidating figure, all glinting armor and steely resolve.

“You mocked me for not removing my helmet, and you claimed that Boba Fett was a disgrace to his armor, I thought these traditions meant nothing to you. Why should I honor your wishes for a duel when to you a Mandalorion who will not remove his helmet is an _aruetiise_.” Din spits the word like it’s laced with poison.

“You follow an unnatural creed! You can never be the ruler of Mandalore.”

“I don’t want to be the ruler of Mandalore! I came here to rescue my child! I didn’t pick up the Kriffing sword because I knew what would happen!” Din yells, “If you were so desperate for it you could have come and claimed it yourself!”

“You’re worried you’ll lose,” The red head sneers. Din shakes his head.

“Maybe. I’m not dying for a planet I have nothing to do with, but a bigger part of me is scared I will win.” he seems to deflate, shoulders slumping, breath leaving him in a large sigh, “Take the sword Bo-katan. All of us have made sacrifices.”

“Any Mandalorian who thinks taking their helmet off is a sacrifice deserves the title of aruetiise.” Bo-Katan says. “You may think no one will know, but I will.”

“ I won’t fight you.” Din says, and he turns his back on her. Luke steps forwards a flimsy shield between the enraged Mandalorian.

“I will win back Mandalore,” Bo-Katan spits, “and I will do whatever I have to.” 

“I understand,” Din says, and Bo-Katan clenches her fists before stalking back towards the stairs, reclaiming her seat. 

“Do you understand?” Luke asks a little bewildered from the interaction. Din nods tensely.

“Yes, people do whatever they can in desperation,” Din’s visor turns towards him, and for the first time it feels like it’s actually separating them. “I did whatever I could in desperation.”

Cara and Fennec get the coms working. Luke had given up on standing guard over Din, who stubbornly refuses to stand down, and now sits on the floor by Grogu’s seat. He hasn’t touched the child since returning, unsure how Din would react to it. The coms overhead crackle and Luke looks up sharply the same time Din does.

“We’re back online,” Fennec says and Luke can hear Cara’s whoop in the background. “Boba Fett is headed for our coordinates.” 

Din’s shoulders slump again and Luke smiles at him. Din turns away, bending to speak into the com, “What’s his estimated time of arrival?”

“We aren’t sure. We got pretty far out, I recommend bunking down, isn’t anything to do but wait.” Cara says. Din looks around the bridge to where Bo-katan is glaring at him.

“Are we allowed to stay on the bridge?” He asks and Luke steps forwards in protest but Din holds a hand up, “She helped me get Grogu back, part of her payment was the ship.”

“You holding up your end of the deal will mend the trust you broke.” Bo-katan says, she struggles up leaning heavily on her companion.

“My kid needs proper sleep and care, if we need to find somewhere else to set up camp you need to tell me.”

They get banished from the bridge. Luke follows Din who marches down the hall, Grogu held snug in his arms. R2 beeps quietly in confused scorn of the situation. Luke is inclined to agree.

“Where are you going?” he calls, having to jog to keep up with the Manadalorian “Your ship.” Din mutters and Luke frowns.

“My ship? Why?”

“I figured I’d help you fix it,” Din says, ‘And I refuse to stay in the storm trooper's quarters.”

“You don’t plan on sleeping do you?” Luke sighs, and Din shakes his head stiffly.

“How am I supposed to sleep? We aren’t safe yet, Gideon is still alive.”

Luke lets him have the silence he falls into, but shares a look with R2. Din is confusing, his trust is something fragile. Much like brittle leaves. Something unique and desired, but if handled too harshly will crumble in your palm. He doesn’t know if the Mandalorian trusts him as much as he thought he did, and it pains him.

Luke’s poor X-Wing is still in it’s miserable state as they walk into the hangar. Din places Grogu in the shelter of a crate and walks around the ship twice, squatting to peer under the nose.

“They really did a number,” Luke sighs, climbing up the side of the ship and reaching into his cockpit for his toolbox. He touches the little locket holding a picture of Leia and Han that hangs dash before dropping back to the hanger floor. 

Din is sitting cross legged under one of the wings messing around with the wires. Luke joins him, scooting the toolbox in between them. They work in silence, R2 zipping around them, welding parts back together and doing the wiring they can’t reach. 

“Are you the ruler of Mandalore now?” Luke asks as they take a break. Din is leaning back against the landing gear under the nose and Luke lays back on his elbows looking up at the high ceiling of the hangar.

“I...don’t know. Gideon had the sword and I just picked it up to bring it back to Bo-Katan. I didn’t know that would make me the,” he breaks off into a sigh, flicking a stray bolt and sending it flying over the floor and bouncing off crates.

“From what I’ve gathered you really don’t want to be the ruler of mandalore,” Luke grins at him and Din thunks the back of his head against the metal behind him.

“No. I don’t. My people and Bo-Katan’s people are different, and from what I know, most of my people are gone.”

Guilt, shame, and anger bled off of Din so thickly Luke has to take a breath.

“You blame yourself,” he doesn’t mean to say it, but it slips out anyways. Din doesn’t react save for a raised shoulder.

“Who else is there to blame. They came out of hiding to help me. I was the cause of their downfall.”

Luke doesn’t know what to say, it’s a flaw of his. He found himself lost when it came to Leia and the devastating loss she has felt. She lost more people than Luke could even imagine, and guilt rests heavy in her chest. Her and Din are similar, he supposes. Letting their guilt fuel what they do in blind firm conviction, until they feel their debt is paid. Perhaps they can meet one day. 

“Did you force them from hiding or did they come on their own?” Luke asks and Din stares out at the stars.

“It still feels like it’s my fault. I was one Mandalorian out of a covert still trying to earn his armor, and now I’m stuck on an imperial cruiser caught up in it all.”

“Do you regret it?” Luke murmurs. 

“Grogu? Never. Everything else? Maybe.”

Luke is saved from asking what everything else is by Grogu himself. He makes a meek little noise from his spot by the crate and Din stands so fast he slams his head against the bottom of the X-Wing. Luke winces but Din ducks away from it like a pebble had been thrown at his head and hurries across the hanger. Luke stands too, looking up at his ship and the tiny amount of work they’ve gotten done.

“Come on Artoo, let's get busy.”

Din joins him a few minutes later, lacking some of the weapons he’s usually covered in and without the ragged cloak hanging over his shoulder. Luke had stripped himself out of black shirt, and it hung off one of the wings. They work shoulder to shoulder again, Luke bantering back and forth with R2, occasionally trying to reign Din into the conversation. He never joined, and the only time he talked was to ask for a tool, or a boost when he couldn’t reach an area he wanted too. Luke tries not to be bothered by the silence. Din is a quiet man, he likes his silence, and Luke will only take it from him if he is asked to.

“Is this your family?” It’s Din who does eventually break the silence between them. He’d crawled into the cockpit to test out the thrusters and was now holding the locket in a delicate palm.

“Yes. That’s my sister, and her fiance, Han. I think you and her would get great, him I’m not so sure.” Luke rubs his hands against his pants to wipe the grease off and swings his legs into the cockpit so he’s sitting on the edge. 

“She’s very beautiful,” Din says, snapping the locket closed and letting it rest in its original spot. Luke chuckles, reaching over to flip a switch and huffing in disappointment when the thrusters stay silent.

“She is. Would you call me crazy if I told you we’re twins?” Leaning precariously back he calls out to his droid, “I think you wired something wrong buddy. Red in the blue hole remember.” his droid beeps out an explicit. Rocking as he waddles back under the belly of the ship. Luke shakes his head and looks back at Din.

“I wouldn’t,” Din says quietly. 

“Wouldn’t what?” Luke asks, just as hushed.

“I wouldn’t call you crazy.”

“Oh.” And how is Luke supposed to respond to that? Din feels starkly close, heat radiating from him. Luke reaches up, the tips of his fingers brushing the metal of Din’s helmet. It’s strangely cold, which shouldn’t be strange, it's metal; but Luke expected the warmth of skin. Luke’s fingers slip down from his cheek, running along the smooth metal to the rim of the helmet. He grips it between his fingers and looks up at Din’s visor. 

“What are you doing?” Din asks quietly. Fingers encircle Luke’s wrist gently, holding his hand there but ready to pull him away. Luke shakes his head.

“I-I don’t know. I-,”

“Mando!” Cara’s voice wrenches them apart, Din grabbing Luke’s shirt as he falls backwards. “Why are you in here?”

“We’re trying to fix up Luke's X-Wing!” Din hollers back, pulling Luke back into the cockpit and crawling out. Luke watches him go, feeling his ears burn.

Cara looks over the ship as she draws near smirking at Din, “You're gonna need a miracle to fix this thing up.” She pats the side and then waits like she’s expecting it to fall apart. Luke sighs crawling out of the cockpit to land on the floor. Din looks away from him and it’s so unfair that he has a helmet to hide his face while Luke has to deal with burning ears and cheeks. Cara’s expression falls a little bit as she turns to him.

“I actually came to get you.”

“Me? Why?” Luke reaches up for his shirt pulling it down and on. “Is something wrong?”

“Depends. I want to take a closure look at those troopers you found, and maybe work out a system on guards for Gideon.”

Din is already strapping weapons and belts back on.

“Din, stay here. Let Grogu sleep.” Din stiffens and looks over his shoulder at Luke.

“I don't think you should go wandering around the ship alone.”

“I’m not alone though, I’ll have Cara. Stay here, I’ll be back soon.” Cara is looking between them an odd sort of strained look on her face. 

“I agreed Mando. Let the kid rest, we won’t be long.” She tosses him a little device that he catches in a gloved hand. “Com links now that they’re working. I have one, if you get that desperate, call.” She sends him a smirk, “Oh and I found a nice refresher. Might want to check it out.”

Cara is quiet too, but in a louder way. She walks with an odd confidence lost to Din. She knows her place in the Galaxy, and because of that she treads with little care in the world; her silence a more jovial compatible thing.

“You were my hero you know.” She says. Luke has his light saber out again, illuminating the same hallways and filling him with a sense of dreadful deja vu.

“Then again,” Cara continues, “ don’t know a single Rebel who didn’t see you as a hero. You saved so many people.”

Luke considers her words. The stripes on her arm finally rang with familiarity and he felt a great feeling of respect grow for the woman. “I was a small piece in the large workings of the Rebellion. I walked away with my life and with more family than I could have hoped for. The war heroes are far more than me.”

“Of course,” Cara readily agrees, “The people who died around me, who I heard died, were the heroes in those instances, and then they were snuffed like a candle. You though, people knew you because of the hope you spread, some even called you a new hope. When I heard my Princess had survived the destruction of Alderaan I knew I needed to be there, to fight for the planet we both lost.” Cara lets out a laugh that echoes down the hall, ‘it was damn hard at times, but we had hope. Hope that the reign of the empire would end. You inspired that hope.”

“I-,” Luke licks over his lips, “I think I should be thanking you for seeing me in such a light, but all I know is that no war is won without the sacrifice of good people. I am no hero or symbol without them. Don’t forget that.”

Cara’s eyes narrow as they walk into the room with the bacta tanks, “They look dead.” she mutters. Luke nobs walking further into the rows then he had before. There aren’t as many as he thought there were. Many of the tanks are empty but are still lit up blue like they’re waiting to be filled.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Cara says.

“The sooner we get off this cruiser the better.” Luke breaths. He isn’t learning anything new, if anything it’s getting more confusing. The force clouds around him, reflective of his own confusion and worry. 

“I think Mando has gotten entangled in something he didn’t expect,” Cara sighs. She dropped the butt of her rifle to the floor. She turns to him, “What is it about the kid? You know more about him don’t you. Can you explain what he has to do with this?” She gestures around the room.

“No. Not yet at least, I would like to talk to the doctor sometime,” Luke says, “If he’s still alive.”

Cara frowns at him, “Why would we kill him?”

“I wasn’t saying you did, but imperials have a tendency to not last in captivity,” Luke says a grimace on his face. Cara lets out a grim laugh.

“We know. I’ve learned to look for capsules they keep in their mouths, neither Gideon nor Pershing had them.” She heaves a sigh, “Do what you need to. Mando can’t lose that kid again.”

“I know.” Luke stands tall, “I need to alert the New Republic about this. The threat of Moff Gideon is far greater than I thought. I-I need to meditate to understand this.” An acute headache is building in Luke's temples.

“I’ll do whatever you need. Gideon is my prisoner after all, and if your interference will help keep Mando safe then it’s whatever.”

Luke turns to her, her face is set in determination, “You’re fond of him.”

“Yes. He is a good comrade and an even greater friend.” Cara clenches her jaw, “He’s shown great vulnerability towards you, and I will not hesitate to act if you use that against him.”

“I wouldn’t Cara. He’s...a good man. He’s seen things, done things he is not proud of, but then who hasn’t. I understand that Din has made many sacrifices recently, I would not make those sacrifices any less valid by breaking his trust.” 

Cara smirks at him, “The name is a surprise.” she hefts her rifle back onto her shoulder, turning away from the tanks, “Do you think we need to set a guard on these?” She asks and Luke feels a bit of whiplash from the change in subject.

“I don’t think so. I feel for them,” Luke murmurs reaching out his fingers to the glass again, “ And I have the horrible feeling that they are far past the point of saving. They will not do us harm.”

Cara looks a little lost in thought as her eyes follow the slow bob of black hair that drifts in the face of one of the people. 

“This galaxy is a cruel place. I thought I had seen the horrors it had to offer me. But this,” she waves her hand around, “Is unnatural.”

The force agreed.

Luke and Cara go their separate ways after working out a schedule to keep guard over Gideon. The Mandalorions do not seem inclined to leave the bridge and Cara had cussed up a storm over, “Mando’s damned tendencies to keep his kriffing honor.” Luke and Fennec would switch out after Cara and then Din would take the rest of the night cycle. Boba’s estimated time of arrival was still blurry to them and Luke didn’t know what to feel about that. Boba would mean possible help, but it would also mean having to face a man he thought he helped kill many years ago. Fennec was antsy though and the Mandalorioan’s hospitality seems to be running thin. So Luke decides that whatever awkward and painful interactions he might have with Noba his return would be their best chance at escape.

Din’s helmet is on one of the crates when Luke steps back into the hangar. He freezes in the doorway. He can barely make out the top of Din’s head;brown hair a damp mass. It curls as it dries. He must have listened to Cara and used the refresher. 

“Din,” He calls and he feels the need to avert his eyes when the Mandalorian freezes. A bare hand comes up, reaching for the helmet before it too freezes “I can leave if you would like me to.”

Grogu, who must be in Din’s lap, lets out a series of garbled cooes that Din shushes quietly. He turns his head to look at Luke over the crate. Din’s eyes are brown. A deep soulful color that bores into Luke. He finds himself staring unsure and ashamed of what he expected. He has seen Din’s face, but in the odd lights of the bridge and the timing of the situation, his eyes and appeared a washed out color Luke couldn’t name. They aren’t though. They’re full of color and wonder and a silly part of Luke, the part that warms in the presence of the other man, thinks that if the life of the galaxy could have a color it would be that brown.

Din grabs the helmet and Luke steps forwards, desperation flashing through him, “Wait.” and Din waits. No more of his face is shown to Luke like the first time, and his eyes darken. “You have brown eyes.” a truly stupid thing to say, something that would earn him a slap to the back of his head from his sister. 

Din’s eyebrows furrow, “It’s a common color in the galaxy.”

Din’s voice is another shock to Luke, who again had heard it before on the bridge briefly, before allowing the father and child their privacy. It had not been his place to hear what Din had said to Grogu as he let him go, so he hadn’t listened intently. It’s soft without the helmet, deep with a husk around the edges. 

“I suppose so,” Luke says. Shifting where he stands. R2, banished to a corner by an untrusting Mandalorion, beeps mournfully at him. Din raises an eyebrow again, before taking up his helmet. He slides it back on and Luke allows himself a moment to mourn. 

“I don’t want to kick you out, and I find it easier to talk when I,” he gestures lamely to his face and Luke nods. 

“May I come in then? He finds it easier to talk to Din when he has his helmet on too. Din nods slowly, turning away. Luke comes around the crate to a camp. A lamp sits in the middle exuding soft warm light, blankets with the imperial seal are stacked by it save for one draped over Din’s lap; and finally Din’s armor set out and gleaming, his weapons close.Din waves a hand to the empty spot on the other side of the lamp when Luke hovers unsure. He sinks to the floor, taking his light saber off of his belt. Grogu blinks large eyes at him, and Luke feels guilty for taking the time Din was allowing Grogu to see his face from them. 

Din hands him another ration package, already made up and warm this time. Luke thanks him and then eats in silence. Din doesn’t ask any questions, he doesn’t say anything at all, until he lets out a heavy sigh. Tossing a piece of wire he was messing with to the floor.

“You were right you know,” his voice is shushed. “ I am scared. I’m terrified. Never have I felt this _lost_ before. I always have some way out of the messes I get myself into, but not now.”

Luke considers him across the yellow spillage from the lamp. He does look smaller, Luke decides, when he’s not covered in Beskar. 

“There is nothing wrong with fear Din.” Luke says softly.

“There is when you turn to harming people who don’t deserve it in repercussion.” Din grunts. Luke smiles at him.

“No. You are right, but you didn’t harm them did you?”

“I could have.”

“You didn’t.”

They fall into silence. Grogu’s sleepy noises and the ships humming acting as an ambient wave between them. Luke feels settled, warm inside and out. 

“Would you tell me the story?” Luke finally says, putting aside the empty package, curiosity finally winning. 

“Of how I found Grogu?”

“Yes.”

Din lets out a dry chuckle, “I’m not really the hero, but I suppose I’ll indulge you.”

So Din tells him. He talks about his quest for Beskar and the jobs he took. He told him about an Ugnaught that he misses who taught him patience and kindness towards beasts. He relayed how he shot a bounty droid in the head who was going to kill Grogu only for that droid to save all of them.

“ I didn’t trust that droid, he tried to kill the child, but he saved my life, and allowed me to keep my creed.” Din murmured, he’s looking down at the lamp, it bounces and glitters against the black of his visor.

Luke smiles bittersweet as the story comes to an end, and what a bittersweet ending it had been. Space stays cold and still and titanium white outside, and the ship save for their little camp feels like a graveyard. R2 whirs a sleepy tune and Din lulls, hand on his knee hanging loose. 

“Do you have any more stories?” Luke finds himself asking. Din’s helmet tips towards the ceiling and he lets out a quiet exhale of a laugh.

“Yeah. Let me tell you about ice spiders.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry she's kinda late. I've been busy and once again and of course, thank you all so much for reading leaving kudos and comments. I have read them all but I don't know if i'll get around to responding, but know that they make me beyond happy.


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